BNSF nearing completion on second rail bridge over Lake Pend Oreille

By Reader Staff

BNSF announced that contractors have installed the final deck girder segment on the second rail bridge over Lake Pend Oreille during the first week of August, bringing the project into the home stretch.

Photo courtesy BNSF.

Begun in March 2020, the new bridge parallels BNSF’s existing span, originally completed in 1904. It’s part of a $100 million project aiming to improve traffic flow on the eastern leg of BNSF’s busy corridor between Spokane and Sandpoint. Also included in the project are two smaller bridges over Bridge Street and Sand Creek — both completed — as well as two miles of new track that has yet to be laid.

BNSF External Corporate Communications Manager Ben Wilemon told Railway Age the next phases of the project will advance quickly now that the principal bridge components are in place.

“All girders on the new bridge over Lake Pend Oreille have been set,” Wilemon told the website. “We have plans to proceed with pouring bridge decks and associated work. The bridges over Sand Creek and Bridge Street are complete.”

Wilemon said BNSF’s current schedule is to begin laying track in October.

According to BNSF, the second main track installed between East Algoma and the Sandpoint junction will allow for trains to move more freely to and from the northern corridor toward Chicago and Montana Rail Link’s route across southern Montana. By that time, it’s possible that the Montana Rail Link route will be fully integrated into the BNSF system. 

BNSF said it has undergone upgrades on the existing bridge over Lake Pend Oreille since 2008, installing new piers and deck girders as needed. Once the new bridge is operational — which is estimated for 2023-2024 — the work on the existing bridge can continue with less interference from train traffic.

After the completion of the second bridge, BNSF will be left with a small section of single track totaling about four miles in length to be resolved on its Spokane-Sandpoint route. This, as well as a single-track section near Otis Orchards, Wash., continue to be the last remaining choke points to be resolved on the route.